Sample IEP Goals

IEP Goals Examples

If you still are not sure What an IEP is or what IEP Goals are, listed below are Examples of IEP Goals and Objectives. These Sample IEP Objectives are just a fraction of the ever growing number of IEP benchmarks available in our database.

Communication/Language Sample Goals:

When provided with an opportunity to make a verbal request (being shown an item or purposely being kept from an activity), the child uses a word or words correctly to make a request, without a verbal, gestural or other visual prompting in the first opportunity per item for at least ___ different items over ___ consecutive days (i.e. child has an expressive vocabulary of at least 10 words which are used within a period of 3 days) as measured by __________.

Will spontaneously point to objects in order to bring another person’s attention to the object by looking at the item they want to point out, gaining the person’s attention, then pointing to the object indicating that the other person should look at the object in the first trial of the day for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________.

Will communicate yes or no when presented with items and activities by nodding/shaking head or saying yes/no to indicate preferences to ___ preferred items (indicate “yes”) and ___ non-preferred items (indicate “no”) on the first trial per item for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will indicate that he/she does not want to complete a task or take an item by holding up his/her hand with an open palm to indicate “stop” or “no thanks” in lieu of problems behaviors such as passive non-compliance, elopement, tantrum behaviors, aggression, or destruction of materials, in the first trial per day with at least ____ items/activities for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________ .

In the absence of competing stimuli, the child will respond to his/her name within 5 seconds of being called by someone who is at least ___ feet away by looking up, turning head, and making brief eye contact (1-5 seconds) with the person who called the name in the first trial of each day for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will expressively identify a minimum of ___ classroom peers by name and verbally respond to social greetings from adults and/or peers on 8/10 trials, with no more than 3 verbal or visual prompts, during structured classroom activities, as measured by __________.

With a visual and verbal prompt, the student will correctly use prepositions (in, on, under) and pronouns (he, she, they) and is/are +ing correctly while describing pictures with ______% accuracy during presented opportunities as measured by_________.

When presented with questions such as “where is”, “show me”, “touch” will identify objects from a field of 3 with no more than ___ prompts on ____ out of ___ opportunities on ___ consecutive trial days as measured by __________

Will use appropriate rate in sentence production on ___% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by ___________.

Will use appropriate rate in conversation on ___% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by ___________.

Will use appropriate phrasing in sentence production (pitch. volume, rate, stress) on ___% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by ___________.

Will answer a either/or question that questions whether an object belongs to a category, such as “Is a car a food or a vehicle?” on ___% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by ____________.

Will identify/explain which item does not belong to a semantic category. such as “Which of these do not belong? apple -pear – shoe – banana.” on ___% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by ____________.

Will sequence and explain the proper order of events to complete a project (e.g. “making a sandwich) on ___% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by ____________.

Cognitive/Play/Leisure Sample Goals:

Will engage in pretend play by imitating at least ___ 1-step sequenced actions with at least ___ different toys or sets of toys in the first trial of the day for each action in the sequence across ___ consecutive days as measured by __________.

Will imitate ____ functional play action by watching the play partner, then imitating the play action within ___ seconds of the presentation of the opportunity. The child will correctly respond in the first trial of each action with at least ___ toys across ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will independently manipulate toys for ____ minutes for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will demonstrate at least ____ actions with/without objects when told (i.e. show me driving) on the first trial of the day for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will place shapes in shape sorter with good shape discrimination on ___% of opportunities for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will place shapes in form board with good shape discrimination on ___% of opportunities for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Orally fills in words and/or imitates actions in familiar songs on ___% of opportunities, across ___ songs for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Invites others to join game/activity without prompting on the first trial of the day with a minimum of ___ individuals for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will independently sit and attend to preferred activities for up to ____ minutes without redirection for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will invite a peer to play by following a visual social script with ___ different peers, on the first trial of the day for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will imitate ____ functional play actions by watching the play partner, then imitating the play action within ___ seconds of the presentation of the opportunity. The child will correctly respond in the first trial of each action with at least 5 toys for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will demonstrate the ability to follow a socio-dramatic play theme and/or initiate novel socio-dramatic play ideas by engaging in play with at least one other person, selecting a theme, assigning roles or taking on roles, and using language and pretend play actions to play out the roles within the context of the theme. Child will engage in at least ____ sequenced socio-dramatic play actions within at least ____ different play themes for __consecutive days as measured by __________

Negotiates to resolve conflicts with peers during play activities in _____% of opportunities for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will engage in multiple turned conversations with familiar people for a minimum of ___ turns, across ___ different people for __ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will make appropriate reciprocal statements when provided with information in structured opportunities on ____% of opportunities as measured by __________

Social Skills Sample Goals:

Will pair eye contact with requests for a minimum of ___ seconds, across a minimum of ____ items on the first trial of the day for each item for a minimum of ___ consecutive days as measured by _________.

Will take/give item(s) offered by another without prompting across a minimum of ___ items ____% of the time as measured by _________.

Will request item from others by using a verbal and/or picture request without prompting across a minimum of ____ items _____% of the time as measured by _________.

Will turn and look towards the person speaking for a minimum of ____ seconds, across ___ different people on the first trial of the day for ___ consecutive days as measured by _________.

Follows person’s gaze/point to establish joint attention on _______% of opportunities for ___ consecutive days as measured by _________.

Will work cooperatively with peers in small group settings (i.e. Share materials, allow peers to share different thoughts) on _____% of opportunities for ___ consecutive days measured by ______________.

Will name personal behaviors that may contribute to a conflict on ____% of opportunities across ___ consecutive days as measured by _______________.

Will walk away/seek help in physical confrontations or set-ups on ____% of opportunities across ___ consecutive days as measured by _______________.

Uses questions to obtain information from others on ____% of opportunities across ___ consecutive days as measured by _______________.

Alternates between speaker/listener roles for a minimum of ____ exchanges on ____% of opportunities across ___ consecutive days as measured by _______________.

Academic Readiness Sample Goals:

Will participate in circle time songs, tasks, activities through imitation on ___out of ___ situations for ___ consecutive days as measured by_____________.

Will be able to participate in ___ activities with a peer for ___ minutes using sharing and turn taking with minimal assistance in 2/3 trials on 3 different testing dates as measured by _______.

Will remain with a group of 2-4 peers for ____ minutes and imitate simple play schemes given no more than ___ prompts in __% of opportunities for ___ consecutive days as measured by____________.

Will complete __ non-preferred close ended task, while staying seated in small group for ___ minutes in ____% of opportunities for __ consecutive days as measured by__________.

Will remain in appropriate classroom boundaries (classroom, standing in line/holding hands, walking in line, playground, remaining on floor) on ___% of opportunities as measured by______________.

Will sit and attend to and participate in large/small group activities (remaining seated, imitating actions, making choices, and following directions, attempting/completing tasks) for ___ minutes with no more than ___prompts on _____% of opportunities as measured by_______________.

Will transition between ____ preferred and non-preferred activities appropriately through the use of a visual and verbal cues on ___% of opportunities as measured by _______________.

During a small group rotation, will complete at least __ non-preferred teacher directed task without refusal behaviors given 1 prompt and/or reinforcer with behavior strategies as needed with ___ out of ___ opportunities for ___ consecutive trial days as measured by _____.

Will sit and independently in a large group activity for at least ___ minutes and be able to demonstrate improved participation by listening to an adult reading a short story, imitate parts of a simple finger play, and/or imitate gross motor movements given __ prompts and behavioral strategies as needed on ___ out of __ opportunities for __ consecutive trial days as measured by ____

Will give at least _____ pieces of personal information (i.e. name, age, etc.) on the first trial of the day for ____ consecutive days as measured by _______________.

Behavior Sample Goals:

Will request break when frustrated, upset, etc. on _____% of opportunities for _____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will independently remain in the teacher-directed area for )_______ minutes, in ____/_____ trials for _____ consecutive days as measured by ____________ as measured by __________

Will independently request a desired item, more time, or a break using any communication means (i.e. gestural, verbal , picture communication system, etc.) instead of engaging in interfering behaviors such as _________ for ____/_____ opportunities for _____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will participate in an activity with an adult for a minimum of ____ minutes by staying in the area, engaging in the activity and interacting with the other person without exhibiting challenging behaviors or attempting to elope from the area for ____ consecutive days as measured by __________

Will respect other peoples personal space and property by keeping hands to self on ____% of opportunities for ___ consecutive days as measured by __________